VEGAN MOFO2014: Grits and Gravy

Grits and Gravy!! 

One of my other favorite breakfast things is GRITS. (Another "Southern" thing, read on for more info.)
And in the Tofu-Mom house, grits MUST have gravy, and because this is (in case you've forgotten or just tuned in) The Month Of Blogging All The Vegan Gravy...

You all know about gravy, or you SHOULD by now, (if not, where have you been the last 10 days?) so let me talk a little about GRITS.
(Grits go with gravy, so yes, I feel this is still in keeping with my theme.)
Grits are also good with (vegan) cheese, butter, syrup or just salt and pepper.
But ignore those options, because this is a month of GRAVY-themed recipes, remember?

Grits and (vegan) Butter! Also good!

Grits are a classic breakfast cooked-cereal item in the Southern United States.
No, they're not exactly a familiar food here in the Pacific NorthWest, but we discovered them while visiting my sister in Florida many years ago and they are now, ironically, one of my kids' all-time favorites; as well as my fallback, go-to breakfast, the way some people reach for instant oatmeal...
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For the uninformed, "grits" (or "traditional white hominy grits") are similar to but somewhat different than yellow cornmeal or coarser-ground polenta - and it's all in the way they're processed.

Alton Brown explains it best:

Random Weird Graphic

"Cornmeal (like you'd make polenta with) is made from ground dried corn. Grits are made from ground, dried hominy (which is still corn, but treated slightly different). To make hominy, you start with field corn that's dried. Then the dried corn kernels are soaked in a solution of baking soda, lime, or wood ash ("lye water") for a day or two. (Sounds yummy, huh?) The kernel's shell pops off, and the kernel swells to twice its size. Kernels are rinsed more than once, then dried again, and finally ground into grits."

OK. So, they're like white, coarsely-ground cornmeal, like polenta, but not...

Grits in the store look like this.

GO BUY A BOX of them.

They look sorta like this -->>

The directions for what to do with grits are on the box/carton/cannister.
That's the best "recipe" I can give you, because each brand and type are going to cook up slightly different.

Go. Cook them. It's EASY!
Then make some gravy. Also easy!
Very quick and easy, warm, creamy, homey "comfort food" sort-of stuff, similar to polenta, or Cream of Wheat with more texture....

Cook up the grits, follow the directions, and when grits are done, spoon into a bowl, and top with a TON of Sausage Gravy.